Former WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder announced his return to the squared circle, six months after his most recent victory over Robert Helenius.
“I have been enjoying family, life, and all that it brings, but now it’s time to return to the ring,” the “Bronze Bomber” wrote in a recent post on Instagram.
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A win over Andy Ruíz can make Tyson Fury vs. Deontay Wilder 4 possible
Deontay Wilder has a final elimination fight with former unified titlist Andy Ruíz Jr to define the mandatory WBC heavyweight challenger, which is currently under the possession of Wilder’s longtime rival, Tyson Fury. While both Wilder and Ruíz said they want the match, the negotiations have not been finalized and it seems that he is not close to that happening.
“I want everything to be well defined for this fight before just saying yes to everything,” Wilder said in an interview with 78 Sports TV last month. “I want to fight Andy Ruíz, that’s definitive. There are many options, many offers and we want I want everyone to flow. I want the fight with Ruíz this year.”
Recently, Ruíz finished his contract with TGB Promotions and is now associated with Al Haymon of PBC. This may bring him closer for a fight with Wilder, as the latter is also represented by the same company.
In addition to Ruíz, Wilder is watching what happens with the fight between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk. Wilder himself, as well as his manager Shelly Finkel said that he would like to face the Ukrainian in the end, if the fight with the British does not take place. However, Usyk has a WBA mandatory fight with Daniel Dubois on his plate.
“We’ll see if the Usyk and Fury fight finally happens,” Finkel told talkSPORT recently. “If he doesn’t, maybe we can have Usyk. There are three or four more options for us besides Ruíz. But they’ll see what comes next.”
